Life isn’t fair sometimes. We make plans as if we have forever, but our time is so short and we forget. We forget to treat moments with our loved ones as special, as something we want to cherish. Michael always says to me, “I’ll never have enough time with you.” From the man I love…

My husband Michael, the engineer, is the designer for all our sons’ birthday cakes. He’s a big fan of Cake Boss and Ace of Cakes and tries to pick up tips when he watches the shows. We only tackle cakes like this three times a year and we are definitely not pros. I bake the…

It’s a shame that fruitcake has earned such a horrible reputation. When I was growing up I didn’t like them, I think because the flavor seemed strong to my kid-size palette, but now I love a good moist fruitcake with plenty of real dried fruits and a dash of rum or other baking alcohol. Michael’s…

In the autumn, my dad used to go hunting with his dad and brothers. They would set off before daylight and spend a day out in the woods hoping to bring home a deer to help feed the family for winter. Grandma packed a little breakfast and lunch for them, and she always included pieces…

My husband Michael, the engineer, is the designer for all our sons’ birthday cakes. He’s a big fan of Duff Goldman and watches Ace of Cakes often trying to pick up any tips he can. We only tackle cakes like this three times a year and we are definitely not pros. I bake the cakes…

Blueberry pudding cake is one of those desserts where you swear the first time you make it that the recipe is wrong. You may look at the pan after you pour in all that boiling water and say to yourself, “There’s no way this is going to work.” I thought exactly the same thing, but…

It’s that time of year, time for me to dust off my Irish genes—which are mingled with Scottish, a bit of Cherokee Indian, as well as a few others that I’m not sure about—and enjoy a bit of my family heritage. We’ll have some Irish stew, Irish soda bread, and at least one dessert with…

We discovered the persimmon tree in September when we noticed the golden orbs hanging from the branches. We hadn’t paid attention to the tree before because it was in a relatively inaccessible area behind our house and we had no idea what it was or what if anything it would produce, it had not set…

My husband Michael, the engineer (aerospace, not trains), is the designer for all our sons’ birthday cakes. He’s a big fan of Duff Goldman and watches Ace of Cakes often trying to pick up any tips he can. We only tackle cakes like this three times a year and we are definitely not pros. I…

For Top Gun’s fifth birthday, he requested a volcano birthday cake with dinosaurs. For some reason, he associates volcanoes with dinosaurs, so we obliged and made a chocolate volcano birthday cake with chocolate frosting and colored vanilla frosting with five toy dinosaurs—one for each year—strategically placed on top, making a sort of volcano diorama. He…